The shift in seasons is Nature’s way of reminding you to pay attention. While it seems obvious that you adjust your outer life to acclimate to the changing weather, you may often forget the shift that is necessary for the inner realm when seasons change. After the Fall Equinox of September 21st, we now officially entered the season of Fall.
Fall is associated with the direction of the West and sunset when we enter the stage of completion characterized by both LETTING GO and CELEBRATING THE HARVEST. There is a need for a lot of gratitude and recognition of what the seeds that you planted brought to you – the beauty of what had manifested and what life lessons they taught you. Watch out for resistance to letting go. Learn from Nature and its example of the leaves falling off the trees without any resistance, creating a potent compost that will nurture the seeds that will germinate in the new year and in the new cycle. So have gratitude for what you accomplished, celebrate, and let go.
Traditional Chinese Medicine associates this season with the element of Metal and the Lungs, which govern the organization, setting limits, and protecting the boundaries. It is time to finish projects that we started at the beginning of the year and enjoy the results of all the hard work. Symbolically, this is our harvest, and we are reaping what we had sowed in Spring. The energy of Lungs is “letting go” and be mindful of letting go of everything we had been holding on, from cluttered home to deep core emotional wounds and behavior patterns that we store in the body and energy field.
To me, the perfect plant to work with the energy of Fall is Lantana, also known as Shrub Verbena. Though none of the plant’s part is edible, it compensates adequately with its energetic properties. Lantana is associated with an element of Fire and governed by the Sun and Mars. The reason I am writing about this plant in the context of Fall is because of its incredible ability to break old patterns, karma-cleansing action, getting energy moving, space clearing, speaking your Truth, strengthening your will, and your boundaries.
Lantana Camera is a woody; shrubby perennial plant native to the tropical regions of the Americas. The symbolic meaning of the lantana flower is generally associated with rigor, the element of Fire, masculine energy, and planetary rule of Sun & Mars. Lantana grows anywhere and everywhere; it is invasive and takes over any spot where you might plant it; it does not contain easily. This energy is especially helpful in the aspect of protecting and guarding our boundaries and seeing clearly if someone is invading our personal space. Another aspect of this intense energy is getting clear on who we are and receiving s motivational jumpstart when we start something new or move through, especially challenging times.
When your energy is strong and clear when you are aligned with your feelings and inner dialogue – you naturally have ethical boundaries, you know who you are and who you aren’t, you intuitively know what feels right and aren’t afraid to let any of it be known. This inner knowledge and confidence naturally strengthen and protect your energy. Lantana flower essence naturally increases and protects your energy field from dangers in both physical and nonphysical realms. For this purpose, I suggest taking two drops of the flower essence under the tongue or in water twice a day, while setting the intention to strengthen your boundaries.
As Tess Whitehurst describes it, Lantana acts like a virus scan that can uncover and dismantle harmful patterns stored in our subconsciousness, energy field, home, or workspace. We all have inherited issues stemming from our childhood experiences, and going back to our ancestry and past lives. Lantana can be an ally to end these patterns right now by taking its essence, spending time with the plant, creating a charm or medicine bag.
The energy of Lantana is clear, dynamic, bright, and positive. It can’t co-exist with the stagnant, heavy, muddles, negative psychic energy, or unwanted entities. My favorite form of use is the Lantana Flower Essence – a safe but so potent vibrational medicine preparation. To clear your aura or living space from negative energy or unwanted entities, try smudging with a bundle of white, feather, or desert sage first. Then mist the area with an energy clearing spray that contains the Lantana flower essence. You can make your homemade smokeless smudge by adding sixteen drops of the Lantana flower essence into a hydrosol like Palo Santo, White Sage, or saint water. Or grab the premade smokeless smudge like the Energy Shield at the Stones Throw, together with some sage and feathers.
Sometimes our energy gets stagnant as a result of that we don’t want to look at or something we’ve learned we are supposed to repress. And once that happens, every aspect of our mental and physical health suffers. We lack motivation, direction, and clarity. Lantana helps to cure those challenges by taking you directly to what your psyche blocked from your conscious awareness. While it might not feel so pleasant in the beginning, Lantana can get your energy moving in the right direction by taking you straight to what we so cunningly blocking from conscious awareness. That is why Lantana, together with the Black-Eyed-Susan, are my go-to flower essences for the Shadow work. And since our bodies and minds are connected, unblocking your energy flow can also help get our organs moving and flowing healthily.
Fall is the time to release in terms of making room for new projects, relationships, and experiences.
“Be like a tree and let the dead leaves drop.” -Rumi
Since you have the support of Nature on your side, consider the following ways you might shed your dead leaves at this time of year:
- Let go of grudges.
- Be easier on yourself.
- Take a break from self-improvement. Spend this season being in love with yourself exactly as you are.
- Notice what you complain about most often, then choose to either address the root of the complaint or vow to stop complaining altogether.
- Let go of your thoughts and feelings of insecurity. Replace them with affirmations of the mature adult.
- Purify your body. Fast, cleanse, or do what is necessary to get your digestion on track.
- Stop trying to people-please and putting other people’s needs before your own.
- Simplify your schedule. Shed excessive socializing or over-scheduling. Prioritize.
- Clear up your clutter. Throw things away. Even though you may correlate this activity with Spring, clearing away the brush in the Fall just makes sense. Weed out what’s weighing you down.
You can get additional support from the plant world to gracefully flow through Fall and its energy of release and let go. Inhaling Maitri Verde’s “Maitri” and “Release” aromatherapy formulas and anointing your wrists. Maitri formula will bring the warmth of self-love, compassion, and acceptance of yourself fully as you are in your body. Release formula helps to release trapped emotions and trauma: through tears, spoken words, movement, yoga practice, and breath. Massage both formulas over the third (solar plexus) and the fourth (heart) chakras to help balance both so that our relationship with our personal power is balanced with (and healed) by love. Apply the Release formula and Lantana flower essence directly on your body where you feel tension or chronic pain to help dissolve negativity that is often stored in the body.
If you want to experience the energy of fiery Lantana, there is a very potent batch of Super Mars/Fire Enhanced Lantana Flower Essence created on February 21st, 2017, Waning Moon in Sagittarius, on Tuesday (a day ruled by Mars) at 9 am (Mars Hour) from the wild-growing plant in the mountains of Costa Rica. It is available at Stones Throw and MaitriVerde.com online store.
If you can, plant Lantana around your home. It does great in soil, flower bed, or even a large pot and will to protect your home from unwanted guests (physical and nonphysical). You can spend time, meditate, and inhale the smell of the flower while setting the intention of strengthening the boundaries, getting clarity, or move the stagnant energy. You can dry your flowers or flowering tops, and burn it just as sage for space clearing or use its multiple benefits in the medicine bag.
Anna Bazarnaya is at Stones Throw for herbal and crystal consultations every Wednesday from 11am-3pm. For more information, contact MAITRIVERDE.COM
consultations | aromatherapy | flower essences | aromatic distillations
anna@maitriverde.com
(415) 450 0947